I didn’t feel like talking and neither did Viney. She stabbed a bite of hashbrowns on her fork, perfect late night food.
“Seeing Ian kind of…”
I gave her a wan smile. “If you want to talk about it…”
She shook her head her gaze unfocused before she frowned at me. “We should go.”
“Go?”
“Friday nights the Makiss have their volleys and on Saturday night, it’s the Chemiss.”
“Chemiss?”
“Chemistry club. Do you want to go see the guys wrestle around?”
I hesitated. “It’s been kind of a long day. Jean and bra shopping, going on my first date, almost killing the cool redhead with a ball, all that tiramisu not to mention that teeny tiny car ride where the backseat was so close to the windshield, and Pitch.”
I made a face and ripped a bagel apart viciously.
“Pitch?”
I took a deep breath as I glared at the bagel. “Apparently Zach is completely in love with some girl he hasn’t even met.”
She laughed. “That look on your face, you haven’t ever crushed on someone?”
I shook my head slowly. “No. Maybe I should. If I can be in love with someone I can’t possibly have, then there’s no risk of loving a real person. I should fall in love with someone like that, someone out of reach so he can never break my heart.” I bit my lip hard and smiled at her. “So that’s the only female he ever liked.”
She nodded and rested her elbows on the table, absently tapping her chin. “Zach and Drake were friends pretty much forever. I haven’t known Zach that long, really only since last year when he…” She shook her head. “Sometimes I feel sorry for him.”
“Zach?”
“Drake.” She gave me a flat glance. “He’s worshipped so he can’t be loved. I only really talked to him last year when he asked me to help Zach.” She shrugged and wrapped her arms around her body like she was cold. “He’s been around so much lately that I feel like I almost know him and he’s nothing like I thought he would be. I thought he’d always be cool and aloof, but he’s making you gingerbread houses and doing community service, climbing towers and Pas de freaking Deux with a beginner. If he did that to me I would kick him in the balls. I mean, he’s nothing like I thought he’d be and I was desperately in love with him for years. Years. I admit it. My room was plastered with posters of him and I was worse than Zach. I stalked him all the time. I wrote him these sick letters and honestly thought that I knew him.” She looked up at me slightly guilty and kind of sad looking.
I stared at her. Viney was obsessed with Drake? But Drake was always flirting with me. Was it her he actually liked and just using me for a decoy? I smiled brightly. “You’re really cool, Viney. I think that Drake probably likes you.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, he doesn’t. The thing is, the more I get to know him, the less my desperate obsession makes any sense. I wanted to be with Ian just so I wouldn’t think about Drake, but it didn’t even help, not really. I just felt more stupid afterwards.”
“But you’re still into him?”
She sighed deeply and shot me this weird look, part excited, part guilty. “It’s Chemiss, like I…”
Zach came out of his room wearing black soft clothing that looked like pajamas or ninja clothes to me. “Oh, hi. I thought you were going to bed, Penny.”
Viney gripped my arm. “We’re talking about boys. It’s girl talk, so you can be on your way. Good luck. Don’t drop dead or anything.”
He sneered at her before he spun and left us alone.
“Chemiss,” she hissed, turning back to me. “It’s the boy’s combat team. Once you see Drake compete you’ll understand why I am what I am, and maybe you’ll…”
“Become a Drake groupie? Well that sounds fun. Then I can throw mashed potatoes at any girl he looks at. What else do groupies do? Are there t-shirts? There should be t-shirts. I want one. I want five. And I want them all to be glow in the dark or scratch and sniff.”
She stared at me blankly before she sighed and pushed away from the table. “Come on weird girl. You’re going to need a cloak. And some black pants. Don’t tell anyone that I let you wear my stuff.”
Chapter 25
We sat at the front of the bleachers with little lights illuminating the steps and aisles so no one fell to their death climbing to their seats. Viney leaned forward, gripping the metal railing with her chipped black nails while we waited for the tourney to begin.
I pulled my cloak tighter around me as a chilly breeze picked up and more people crowded into the bleachers. The hood would probably make my hair frizzy. I’d wrapped a black scarf around my lower face, because we were all ninjas. Since the entire school showed up to this thing, you’d think that they’d do it during the day. At least that’s what I thought before an explosion of gold showered down as a dragon came to life above us, breathing fire that I could feel on my skin.
I held my breath as the gold beast arched its back and clawed the sky. The sound of embers popping, the heat on my cheeks, and the scent of sandalwood swept away the rest of the audience. I gripped the railing while I stared up as the dragon beat its wings, rising slowly, wind blowing back my hood.
Of course, it wasn’t a real dragon.
It seemed to fix its eyes on me before it bent its slender neck and shot a blast of flame. I gasped and flinched back as the flame spread above my head. It didn’t burn my skin, but a few fly-away hairs shriveled up around my face that felt like crinkled wire when I pressed my palms against my cheeks.
I turned to Viney who had an arm across her face, guarding it from the flames. Were they using actual fire with their projected holographs? That was risky and unbelievably cool. My heart still pounded as I refocused my attention on the ring below. There was a twenty-foot gap between the bleachers and the platform in the center.
A man seemed to step out of thin air, his lean body covered in what looked like orange liquid metal that covered him from scalp to toe. Body conscious didn’t begin to describe it. Every muscle was orange liquid, delineating every bump and bulge. I gasped as he spun around and I saw the full frontal. It was nothing, just a man wearing holographs with a cod piece like a ballerina man, but I really, really wanted to hold up my hand and block out the bits that made my breathing weird.
“That’s Oscar. He’s not too bad.”
I turned to look at Viney and was glad for the ninja mask so no one could see my face on fire from blushing so hard. Oscar cranky pants from study hall was the naked orange man? Not that he was really naked. He must be wearing some kind of skin colored suit filled with light receptors. He wasn’t really naked and those weren’t really his veins that the orange light flowed through over his body. The orange light flashed brighter and seemed to take a shape, almost like the light was growing out of his skin in tiny scales that expanded until they were quarter sized. It only took a few seconds for
the whole process, Oscar sprouting orange light armor, but when he was done he looked really spectacular.
He walked across the stage, but he didn’t walk like a geeky student, instead he seemed to float over the platform, like a dancer, moving faster and faster until near the edge he leapt spectacularly high, arm stretched above his head, fingers outstretched to grasp something I couldn’t see until he touched it. At that touch, the object flared to life, a two-foot sword that flickered, like it was liquid metal that ran up or down depending how he held the blade.
He came down gracefully to one knee, sword held perpendicular to his body, head bowed. The audience surged to their feet cheering before they settled back down. I glanced over at Viney who met my eyes, but I couldn’t read her expression because we were ninjas.
Another man materialized on the opposite side of the platform, but he didn’t come out naked, he already had purple armor that glowed like liquid metal. He came out of thin air holding his fire-metal sword. Orange reflected in a ripple through the purple sword that flickered like fire as he raised his weapo
n and charged Oscar. I gasped and flinched back as the purple fire wrapped around Oscar, but his sword shifted, spreading out to become an orange shield, flames licking the black platform until I thought I could smell singed wood. Oscar shoved back the purple fighter with his sword/shield and then
swung the orange flame sword at the purple warrior. There was a flash of light, orange and purple waves that spread from the epicenter of the clash into the audience. I gasped as waves of purple and orange light lapped around me, like water without temperature.
I shuddered and wiped my hands on the black skirt Viney had let me have because it was too long for her before I focused once more on the platform. The two fighters danced more than fought, no doubt years of ballet was to blame for those incredible and not very practical leaps by Oscar met by the terrifying spinning ability of the purple warrior.
“Who is the purple guy?” I hissed at Viney.
“Pete,” she answered without turning her head.
Pete spun, purple fire from his sword forming a kind of tornado around his body, purple fire flicking, sucking everything around into that spinning vortex. My hair escaped from my cloak, strands rippling towards the purple warrior, and I gripped the bar, feeling pressure from behind me as the audience was pulled towards Pete.
Oscar, struggled to maintain his distance, but he slid over the floor, struggling to stay away from that flame, but Pete kept spinning with his purple flame rising thirty feet into the night sky. My cloak flapped around me until eventually Oscar had no option
other than accepting the inevitable. He jumped up and turned towards Pete, forming his orange flame into a shield as he struck the purple column of fire with Pete in the center.
The impact threw me back into the knees of the person sitting behind me while my hands gripped the metal railing, straining my shoulders. I couldn’t see anything through the purple and orange flash of light.
When I blinked the world into focus and felt more singed hair hanging around my face, Pete was staggering around on the platform, and Oscar was lying on the ground.
I gripped Viney’s arm. “Is he okay?”
She stared at the scene and shook her head slightly. “Pete lost control. It was just lucky that he came out of that without getting decapitated. I’m sure Oscar will be fine.”
She covered my hand with hers as guys dressed in black scrambled up to the platform and surrounded Oscar. I waited for them to pick him up, but instead they moved closer, shoulder to shoulder until little white bits of lightning flickered between the guys inside their circle. The crowd murmured while Viney’s grip grew painful and I realized that I was holding my breath.
Oscar sat up with a gasp and orange light flickered over his skin, tracing his veins, at least what I could see around the men with the lightning flickers. I stared at those men
and barely heard the cheer of the crowd as Oscar staggered to his feet, naked besides orange light that traced his veins.
The circle of men stepped black, lightning vanishing into their hands, tiny flickers of electrical current that stirred a memory I’d buried long ago.
I gasped as I saw a barren field, burnt and smoking, the remains of a black car crumpled in the middle of the field without any tire or skid marks that led to the crash, just the car in the field while I sat there, staring at it. My bare feet poked up to the gray sky, streaked in black and red. I inhaled but I couldn’t breathe. I was drowning in my own lungs, metallic taste in my mouth like copper pennies.
“Penny.” A dark figure bent over me, his hands spread with miniature lightning dancing between them, lightning that made everything disappear.
“Penny!” Viney’s voice came from far away and with effort I blinked her into focus where she bent towards me, eyes bright with excitement while her lower face was still covered in black fabric.
“Is it over?”
The crowd was hushed while she shook her head and turned back to the platform, pointing as the golden dragon came back, erupting in the sky, shooting flame that was
still warm on my skin, but it seemed further away. Everything seemed further away, even Viney, pressed to my side and gripping my arm.
I had to go. I had to draw a picture of that scene, the man with lightning, the car in the field. I had to do something before I forgot it again. I shook my head because I couldn’t press through the crowd around us, couldn’t slip away from the fight unnoticed, not unless I climbed down through the bars in front of me.
The dragon circled tightly as a howl filled the night, a sound that sent a chill running down my spine. Green eyes opened floating on the far side of the platform, enormous eyes, the size of a body, and then the head formed, muzzle, sharp teeth and green fur.
The rest of the wolf took shape even as the creature leapt skyward jaws locking around the dragon’s throat. They tumbled through the air, curled together like an enormous burning yin yang sign down to the ground and then exploded in tiny gold and green flecks that danced in the air like diamonds. I could see my reflection in the green and golden specks the size of my fingernail. I tried to catch one in my hand, but when I opened it, there wasn’t anything in my palm.
Viney snorted at me for trying to catch light then nudged me with her sharp elbow. I looked down in time to see the golden specks swirl and cluster around a figure that took shape, a man who stepped forward dressed in luminescent liquid gold armor but bare skinned from wrist to elbow.
Intricate patterns made of golden light formed on his forearms and the back of his hands. They flared brighter as he brought his hands up in an intricate movement like the Tai Chi Revere performed every morning, but Revere’s hands didn’t light up so not nearly as cool.
The crowds exploded in hisses, boos, with a smattering of applause and shrieks of pure female appreciation. Viney beside me hissed with a lot of venom which I understood when the guy turned his head, seeming to look directly at me and winked. It was golden-eyed boy from earlier. I slouched in my seat and pulled my hood low.
“So that’s what Ian’s doing in town. I hope that Drake kills him.” Viney’s voice trembled with anticipation.
Drums beat slow, while Ian walked the perimeter of the platform, arms outstretched, smirk on his mouth as he waited to be adored. The drums picked up speed and then screeching like guitars and violins in a melody that I could have sworn I knew.
“Isn’t that the song Drake was playing on his guitar?”
Viney flashed me a glare before refocusing on the platform, leaning forward, holding her breath, hands white where she gripped the bar.
When the song had reached a screaming pitch, a cloud of green smoke began drifting around the platform, more and more smoke until it began to shake like someone was stirring it up, and then green streaks outlined a body and there was Drake.
He didn’t look like Drake, not with his bare chest drawn over with intricate shapes, star patterns like the pattern on his cheek that lit his green eyes. His eyes glowed green as he curled his lips and stalked towards Ian.
His eyes weren’t really glowing, they couldn’t be. He was wearing some kind of eye protection that would enhance his vision and make his eyes look like that. He wore pants but no shoes. No shoes, no shirt, no service. He moved like silk rippling in the wind, like falling, like ink spilling in water, as effortless as it was inevitable.
I couldn’t help leaning forward, studying the movement of his muscles, the clench and fall of his body. My fingers tingled and I tasted black cherry.
“Drake!” Viney’s scream shattered the air, the sound of passionate obsession breaking through my own rapture.
I gasped and released the bar, pressing my hands together, digging my nails into my skin until I could feel pain instead of Drake’s breath on my cheek, his thighs pressed against mine.
Drake looked over at Viney, his eyebrows lowering into a scowl that made his cheekbones sharper, lips fuller and slightly parted. Viney went crazy, jumping up and down, waving her arms like a complete idiot while I sat there, paraly
zed. Everyone around me was on their feet screaming and chanting while I tried to shrink into my own skin.
Drake’s expression changed, one eyebrow rising as he seemed to look directly at me before he threw a hand wide and bowed to the crowd.
I’d thought the crowd was already insane, but they jerked and stamped, pressing me forward against the bars while Viney clocked me with one of her wild fists. The crowd began to jump in time with the drum beat, thump, thump, thump until I was sure that the bleachers would crack and we’d all plummet to our deaths.
Drake grinned wickedly for one moment seeming to stare directly at me before he whirled around in time to be engulfed in Ian’s golden flames.
My heart pounded as he disappeared for a moment before hissing and sizzling filled the air, like water on hot metal. Drake stepped forward, still surrounded by the golden fire, but he was clearly illuminated in green until with a dull roar like breakers crashing, the flames were extinguished with a wall of green liquid and clouds of roiling steam.
Drake stepped towards Ian, a look of amusement on his face. He raised his hands and gestured, ‘bring it on,’ or something.
Ian grinned wickedly before he ran towards Drake, a liquid metal sword flowing out of Ian’s hands close to Drake’s head. Drake bent backwards, beneath the thrust of the sword, then twisted and punched the side of the blade away while he slammed his foot into Ian’s chest.
Ian flew away from Drake’s mighty kick, a green footprint on his chest, flickering brightly before gold flames bubbled up, eating away the green.
Drake grinned at the audience, like he was sharing a joke with us, and the crowd roared, drowning out the music while Drake threw back his head and howled. Ian ran into him, streaks of gold flickering over his skin as he plowed into Drake, knocking him down to the platform.
The audience gasped and in that moment of almost silence, I could have sworn I heard Drake laugh on the platform in Ian’s golden fire embrace. What followed was a series of holds and grips that I couldn’t follow. My head was buzzing and the world was getting fuzzy around the edges. I needed a lollipop. I needed to stop staring at Drake while he strained against Ian, body against body, muscles rippling and skin glittering like green diamonds.
Darkly Sweet Page 24
